What does it take these days to find your soul? A question without an answer perhaps but one that has a certain relevance to “Melt” by Nuela Charles as, in the space of seven songs, she reveals something of her own soul.
I’m not talking about a revival of the old school soul music style either as that genre is currently comatose in the dark shadows of all powerful computer powered plastic perfection yet, while Nuela Charles undoubtedly makes much use of the technology demon, such is her control of the medium that you are never in doubt that it is her heart that is steering her course all the way from start to finish . She also has a rather endearing fondness for the ways of the eighties style power ballad with the title track being the prime example of this. Likewise, she knows the value of catching the attention of your ears with the time honoured triumvirate of hook, chorus and melody and, if such a thing still had any relevance nowadays, she could easily take “Got It Bad” or “Known Better” to the top of the charts.
Her voice always exudes both confidence and depth with her robust approach to song domination guaranteeing that your attention will not need to wander over the length of this album which, in these attention deficit days, is something a bit special.
So, in the final analysis, “Melt” provides more than enough proof that Nuela Charles is a force, and a soul, to be reckoned with.
Best song? The odd one out – the simply spacious “Sometimes”.
The verdict? Her star shines brightly.